Grandfather Paradox
by Zimithrus1
Summary: During a mission gone awry, an Old Mako Reactor blows with Sephiroth caught in the center of the blast. Due to some mysterious event, the General of the Shinra Army is wet-nursing three silverette children, and a young blonde toddler named Cloud. All the while in a Parallel Universe unlike his own. For the moment, Sephiroth plays parent while the world he came from has changed...
1. Chapter 1: How It All Began

_Oh, well. Here we are once again! Another new story is out straight from my imagination again! But this is a new perspective on my part, it is my first story writing more mainly in Sephie's point of view! (Still third person perspective like all of my other stories though ^^;) So I am WAYS away from my comfort zone, if one could call it that anyways, but I hope you guys enjoy the idea and the story! I apologize is any of the characters are OOC, I tried my best! So, shall we get started? :)_

7777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777

_~X[Chapter 1: How It All Began]X~_

Sephiroth's eye nearly twitched when he noticed he had been assigned yet another mission. He had just completed one exactly two days ago, and had literally just finished the paperwork and report for that mission just three hours ago. Lazard actually had the Gaul to give him another mission nearly imminently after he just completed one, that lasted a good four days as well.

The silverette was relaxing in his Housing Quarters on the 65th floor of Shinra, enjoying a cup of decaf and listening to the quiet silence in which he was dwelling. But when his PHS vibrated, relaxation was over. He let out a noisy sigh as he closed his eyes, hoping that maybe he had just somehow dosed off and this was all just a dream. But reality said otherwise when Lazard sent him another notification that he needed to leave within the hour, and that a chopper would be waiting on the port atop the roof in fifteen minutes.

Sephiroth shook his head and stood up, popping his neck and stretching, already regretting getting up. Somehow, he had a gut feeling that his mission was going to take a long time. His gut feelings were never wrong either. Sometimes, just once in his life, he wished his gut feeling could be wrong. Just for once. But fate never liked to give the mighty general a break it seemed.

The silver haired man walked over to the door leading out into the hall, and gripped the handle tightly. He didn't even have enough time to take his boots off to relax. He was always doing something. The longest break he had ever received was a measly two days of vacation. He wished Shinra would just shut down for a week or something, just so he could get a well deserved break. He left his Quarters, and slammed the door behind him, as if throwing a silent tantrum about his predicament. But the mighty general would NEVER loose his cool. It just wasn't him to do so. If he did, the cadets or anyone else within the company would start up rumors or something like that.

Sephiroth walked briskly towards the elevator, pressing the up button. He might as well leave now and finish this new mission as quickly as possible. The sooner the better. Then maybe, just maybe, he'd finally get some relaxation. The steel doors groaned open, and the general stepped inside, pressing the number 69 on the panel of numbers. This floor was director Lazard's office. The doors slid closed in the same groaning fashion, and the box began to ascend, vibrating the floor ever so softly as the cables pulled it up.

Sephiroth stared at the panel displaying the floor numbers in bright red. He watched it count the numbers with each floor the elevator passed. 66...67..68...69. When the designated floor arrived, the elevator stopped moving, and the doors slid open once again. The silver haired man stepped out and swiftly walked towards Lazard's desk, not even making a sound. He paused in front of the spacious looking desk and softly cleared his throat to make his presence known. The director looked up from his computer, smirking softly as he folded his hands in front of his face, elbows propped up comfortably on the desk.

"Ah, General Sephiroth. I see you received my notification?" He questioned, his thin framed glasses catching the fluorescent lights flickering dimly from above.

"I have." The silverette replied, saving his back talk and keeping it to himself. He was not the type to belittle others so easily. But he was the type to get quite annoyed with a person. Especially if that person kept denying him some quality vacation time, or alone time for that matter.

"Good. I supposed I should debrief you on the mission." Lazard spoke, placing one of his hands on the mouse to his computer. He clicked it a couple of times, browsing through some files, searching for the proper document. "Ah, here we are. This was filed by our research department a few days ago. They specifically requested that you accompany Zack Fair on his first mission as a Second Class SOLDIER." Lazard first explained, slowly skimming through the details of the file.

"Me? Wouldn't Angeal be a better candidate for this mission? After all, he is mentoring the boy." Sephiroth pointed out, loosing interest for the mission even more. To be honest, Zack Fair was like the Energizer bunny. He always had nonstop energy and was too hyperactive for his own good. It wasn't like the general hated the boy, but he wished that energy would be put to something more useful, like less question asking, and more training. He was still quite sloppy, seeing as he only just became a second class no more than a week ago.

"I proposed the same thing, but then I recalled that Hewly is currently on a mission down in Mount Corel." Lazard spoke, glancing at the silver haired man for just a moment before his milky blue eyes returned to the bright computer screen, a small reflection of the computer screen was cast from his glasses, giving Sephiroth a small window of what file the Director was currently skimming through.

"So. If that is the only option, is it only Fair I am traveling with?" Sephiroth asked, wanting to know if more lives were in his very capable hands. Yet looking after more than Fair was quite a pain.

"No. There are two cadets traveling with. They lack field experience, and desperately need it." The Director said, skimming over the file for a little while longer.

"Understood. What are the details of the specified mission?" The general asked, comfortably crossing his arms over his chest as he slowly exhaled.

"The mission is in the mountains of Modeoheim. There are reports from the locals about some terrifying beasts prowling around the village and preying upon the local livestock and crops, and occasionally, the wandering human child. You and Fair are ordered to eliminate the beasts before any more casualties can occur." Lazard summarized, finally closing out of the file.

"Understood Sir. When do we leave"? Sephiroth inquired.

"immediately. The chopper should be on the roof by now." The Director stated, leaning back in his office chair as he exhaled.

_'Oh yes, it must be so tiring to sit around and give orders to your subordinates._' The general thought, nearly wanting to roll his eyes. But he refrained from doing so. Instead he nodded, then spun on his heel, leaving the director's office to head up to the roof.

No doubt Fair would already be up there. He was always eager for missions. Sephiroth on the other hand, being in this business for well over a decade, always yearned for the end of them. he arrived back at the elevator, hitting the arrow pointing up. This time, the doors were at the ready and slid open, without the groan of protest this time.

The general stepped inside silently and pressed the button labeled 'Rf. Lv', short for 'Roof Level'. The elevator began to ascend, but it didn't take long to arrive, since he was previously just two floors from the top. So the ride didn't even last a minute, before the doors slid open, and the cool evening dusk greeted him with a breezy wind, signaling that winter would soon be on its way.

The general always enjoyed the signs of an approaching winter. He never cared much for the summer time. The scorching heat often slowed him down, even if he never really showed it. Even though others would be stiffer than bricks in the cold, Sephiroth was not, and his fighting was much more fluid in the cold. He was not like the others to say the least.

As he caught sight of the chopper, its blades whirring quickly, getting ready to leave ground, He also caught sight of Zack, being all buddy-buddy with the cadets, joking and laughing as if he had known them all his life. Somehow, the general was quite envious of how open the flamboyant SOLIDER was. He was always freely expressing his conerns, never afraid to say how he truly felt, and had enough confidence and courage to strike up a conversation with just about anyone as if he had been friends with them for years. It was the one thing the silverette actually admired, even respected, about the boy, but that was about it. The raven haired man caught wind of the older man approaching the chopper.

"Hey! How ya' doin' Sephiroth?" He called, waving his right hand up in the air with a goofy smile plastered on his cheerful face.

The general actually smirked some, letting out a little grunt of amusement. "I am doing well. Are you ready for departure?" He questioned, returning to his usual stoic expression in front of the nervous looking cadets. No doubt they were more than likely intimidated.

"Yup! Ready to roll!" The vivacious teenager exclaimed, eyes shimmering with excitement.

"Well then, let's go." Sephiroth said, boarding the helicopter first.

Zack followed in after, then the nameless cadets brought up the rear. The general had nearly forgotten how cramped a chopper could become with more than two people inside. With four, it was near suffocating. The general was pressed tightly in between a bouncy Second class, and the wall of the helicopter. Across from them, one of the cadets was looking out the window, while the other was looking down, curling inward and resting his hands over his stomach. Sephiroth took notice of this. The cadet must not be used to heights or something. In fact, he looked quite scrawny. Why was somebody like him even in the military?

"Cadet." Sephiroth spoke up.

The scrawny one looked up, his face hiding behind his standard issued helmet.

"What is your name?" The general asked, arms folded comfortably across his chest.

"It's uh, Cloud, Cloud Strife, Sir." He stammered.

If the silverette didn't know any better, he could have sworn a hot blush was flushing across the cadet's pale white cheeks, giving them life. Perhaps he was intimidating the boy.

"Don't be all nervous! Seph here might look like a tightwad, but deep down, he's a pretty cool guy!" Zack spoke up, his cheery tone never faltering once.

"A tightwad?" The general asked, arching a silver eyebrow at his fellow SOLDIER.

The scrawny looked cadet tried to choke back some laughter, but a small snort came out. His hand instantly covered up his mouth. "s-Sorry sir. I-I didn't mean to laugh like that..." The boy stammered again, turning another shade of pink. His face was nearly red by this time.

The cadet removed his helmet, to reveal a head of spiky blonde hair, shooting up in crazy directions, and light blue eyes, the color of the sky. Instead, Sephiroth just chuckled, albeit dryly. He was never really the type of guy to laugh heartily or loudly. The other trooper just continued to stare out the window, either ignoring the moment, or just lost in thought. Finally, after much more sitting, the chopper finally landed in the snowy mountains of Modeohiem, just right outside of the icy village.

Zack bounced off first, breathing in the fresh and crisp air that the mountains had to offer. Sephiroth stepped out next, stretching his back a bit before sighing softly. The unknown trooper, and Cloud were the last to leave the chopper. The piolet stated that he would be waiting here for their arrival when the mission was complete. The group of four searched the area. It seemed peaceful.

A small amount of snow flurries fluttered past, landing delicately in their hair, and tumbling down gracefully to join the other snowflakes on the frothy white ground below their boots. Winter was a mysterious and wonderful season. Snow always seemed to be so full of life as they dispersed from the clouds above, and blanketed the world in bright white. Giving the world a sense of enchantment from a fairy tale long forgotten.

How could such a peaceful place hold such frightening monsters? Snow dotted the roofs of the wooden houses, fogging up the windows, and chilling the air. Yet as the scene was peaceful, it was not entirely. It was too quiet. A silence like this only meant that something was afoot. Sephiroth could feel a presence lingering in the air. A foul and unwanted presence. It must be the monsters mentioned in the report. He took the lead of the small pack, following the feeling in his gut.

"You know where you're goin' Sephiroth?" Zack asked, bounding up beside him. The two troopers quickly followed in their stead.

"I have a feeling." The First class responded, taking a left at a fork in the road.

The three men followed behind him. The presence started to grow stronger, much stronger. They were getting close to where the beasts were hiding out in the village. The sun had fully sunk behind the horizon, leaving a bright indigo in its' wake. A few stars shimmered above, but it was growing darker and colder fast. It was a new moon tonight, so it would be quite hard to see once the bright blue faded to a blackish color. The group arrived to a small cave, where the presence of the monsters were the strongest.

"Technically, this is your mission Fair, you first." Sephiroth said, stepping aside so the Second class could enter first.

"Me!?" He cried, his voice cracking because it went up an octave.

"Hmm? Scared?" The general mused, coyly smirking.

"NO!" The ravenette bellowed, jumping right into the mouth of the cave, drawing his sword.

"Cadet, you keep watch outside, Strife, you come with us." Sephiroth ordered as he joined Zack inside of the dark cave.

Both cadets nodded, the unnamed one staying outside, while Cloud scurried in after. "Jeeze, it sure is dark." Zack complained, kicking a small rock across the cave. The noise bouncing off the walls and echoing back outside.

"Quiet. You'll alert the enemy of our presence." Sephiroth commanded.

Then Cloud sneezed loudly, and after he did so, a bright orange light assaulted them, and they were face to face with a gigantic Gaurd Fang type creature. It was massive. Hovering to be five feet on all fours, no skin or fur was present, just the beasts mighty red muscles. its sharp teeth protruded from his gums, stained a pale yellow. Its eyes were crimson red, its pupils like cat eye slits. A large mane of fire surrounded its head and neck, trailing down his back and ending at his tail, where A big flame on the tip of its' tail was the source of the light.

"uh-Oh no! I'm sorry!" The cadet quickly apologized, covering his mouth with his gloved hands.

"Do not apologize. Holster your weapon immediately." The general said, unsheathing Masumane.

The nervous trooped nodded, then got his rifle at the ready.

"Wow! You are one UGLY monster!" Zack exclaimed, pointing at it with his sword. The large beast howled in anger, crouching low to the ground, getting ready to pounce. As soon as it lept, Zack charged at it and widely swung at the monster, barely knicking it on its front left leg. It growled lowly, snarling and showing off its teeth. It was pissed about its injury. Zack swung again, only missing the mighty beast by mere inches. The monster swiped a mighty paw at the SOLIDER, the teen just barely dodging the swipe by the skin of his teeth.

He spun on his heel, swinging the sword into a circle, then sliced at the front paws of the beast. It let out a loud shriek as it jumped back, nearly squashing Cloud, whom only managed to escape just seconds before impact. Sephiroth observed the fight. The Second class was quick to respond to attacks, but very sloppy when attacking back. His agility and stamina were outstanding, but he lacked patience and control. Sephiroth stepped in, easily gliding up to the beast without a sound. With precision and quick clean cuts, the monster was struck in the back and the chest, the monster was barely alive.

When Sephiroth pulled his sword out, the beast staggered in place, trying to shake off the succumbing feeling of certain death. It growled lowly, shaking its head from side to side.

"Cloud! Finish it off!" Zack called, turning towards the trooper.

The cadet went to fire a shot, but nothing came out. He tried again, still nothing. "It's jammed!" He cried, slapping at the barrel a few times.

The beast shook off its' dizziness and howled, about to make another move. At the last possible second, the gun unjammed, and Cloud fired a shot from his rifle, the shot went through the skull of the beast but ricocheted off the cave walls, flying deeper into the cave. Yet, it sounded as if the bullet stuck a metallic object. The sound echoed to where the fight was finished and where the dead monster lay on the ground, slowly bleeding. But what caught the group's attention, was the fizzing sound of electricity crackling from where the bullet had struck from deep within.

"Woah, what do you think that could be?" Zack asked, blinking once. He started to walk in the direction that the fizzing and crackling sound was coming from. Sephiroth and Cloud followed along beside him.

Deeper in the cave, they noticed, much to their surprise, an incomplete Mako reactor. "What in Odin's name?" The general questioned, approaching the piece of abandoned machinery.

"Yeah, what gives? I thought Midgar and Modeoheim made a pact not to build a reactor here?" Zack added, approaching the equipment with Sephiroth. Cloud scurried alongside them, not wanting to be left behind.

The general noticed something quite peculiar about this reactor though. It was different. Much different then the ones today. could this one have been an earlier model? But scrapped at the last minute? The silverette scoped every inch of the reactor, being careful to mind the sparks of electricity spurting from where the bullet had impaled the thin metal sheet. He found a patent number and date near the bottom of the machine.

Serial number read 0012, date read 1969. This was one of the first Mako reactors ever built! Shinra started up in 1967 after all. This was ancient, and quite possibly, lost technology, buried deep within a forgotten village cave. What secrets lied within this piece of timeless machinery?

Zack and Cloud had made their way up beside the General, studying the old reactor as well. Pointing out differences between this model, and the current models. Suddenly, the fizzing intincified, and a bright light began to shine from the reactor, surrounding it in a bright white glow. A high pitched noise slowly crescendo higher and higher. "Get back!" Sephiroth commanded, knocking the two out of the way with his elbows. As soon as they were nudged aside, the light assaulted Sephiroth, sucking him in and blinding the other two.

"Seph'! Sephiroth!" Zack cried.

-0-0- [VII] -0-0-

Sephiroth's eyes snapped open. It was dim here. He blinked a couple of times as his milky blue green eyes adjusted to the lighting of the room he was in. What just happened? First the light drew him in, and now he was somehow laying down, in some strange room. He blinked a few more times. He shifted slightly. He was in no pain whatsoever, and he came to realize he was laying in a bed, hunkered under thick covers.

What on Gaia was going on? Was he transported to a village clinic? What had happened? He couldn't recall. Wait! Did the light absorb Zack and Cloud, that little trooper? He shot up from the bed and looked around. It looked like his Housing Quarters back at Shinra. Yet it looked different somehow. Some of the furniture was arranged differently. It seemed more like a house, rather than an apartment styled flat. He stood up from the soft bed to realize he was in a new changed of clothes. They appeared to be pyjamas. What the heck? Sephiroth was extremely confused right now.

He glanced over to see that a clock on an end table beside his bed displayed the time of eight thirty four in the morning. But wasn't it near dark earlier? Had he been asleep for awhile? Did someone take him back to his Quarters and re-arrange his furniture? This was all kinds of weird. He heard the patter of quick footsteps pause by the bedroom door. When he looked up, he saw three children there, all with silver hair like his. They all had big smiles on their faces.

The oldest looking one had milky green eyes and his silver hair hung in his face, ending at his shoulders. The middle one had blue green eyes and hair ending in between his shoulder blades. The youngest had blue eyes with a tinge of green, and his hair was spiked in the front at the tip, and the back was cut short to the middle of his neck. Who where these children? They all smiled brightly before shouting one word that nearly made the mighty Sephiroth cringe.

"Daddy!" They cried, rushing at him and tackling him back into the bed, laughing and giggling.

The startled silverette let out a disgruntled cry, his eyes widening at whatever the hell was happening. The children let him go and he quickly sat up. Another quick pair of footsteps paused by the door. The silverette looked over to see a little toddler, that looked just like Cloud: Spiky blonde hair shooting up in wild directions, and sky blue eyes. He had a little baby blanket clutched in his small hands and pressed up to his the bottom half of his face. It was colored light blue, and he could see some yellow and white barely poking out as well.

Sephiroth was all kinds of confused at this point. He needed answers and he needed them now! What was going on? Who were these kids and why were they calling him Daddy? Sephiroth didn't have any kids! As a matter of fact, he didn't even have a girlfriend! The silverette stood up from the bed, brushing past the toddler Cloud and into what he believed to be his Housing Quarters, but he was wrong. This was a house, not a flat.

Was it just him and these children, or did others live with him? He heard a phone ringing from in another room of the house. He quickly ran towards the sound to find that it was coming from the kitchen. He looked at the screen on the phone to see who was calling. It was Angeal! A familiar name! He quickly picked up the phone.

"Hello? Angeal? Is this really you?" Sephiroth asked into the receiver.

"Uh, yes. It really is me. Did you hit your head to hard yesterday or something?" The man chuckled. It sounded just like him.

"Angeal! Answer me this! Why are there strange children in my apart- er - house, calling me 'Daddy'?" The silverette demanded, glancing towards the living room from the kitchen.

The three silver haired children were playing together in the living room, and the toddler Cloud was lingering by the kitchen, staring up at him with those big blue eyes. They were full of nothing but childlike adoration and innocence.

"What?" Angeal questioned, obviously baffled by Sephiroth's statement.

"You heard me!" The silverette said, his tone getting a little icy. He was NOT in the mood for games right now.

"Um, they're your children. Are you alright? Should I come over?" The man asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Please do. I need someone to explain this to me." Sephiroth agreed, his tone going back to normal.

"Um, okay. I'll be over in ten." Angeal said.

Finally! Looks like the General was going to get some answers!  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_A/N: Wow, this chapter was extremely long! This has probably been the longest chapter I've ever written! Well, I needed to get the setting down and I needed to get all the important parts all written out so the fun could begin! :3 I hope you guys liked this chapter! Don't forget to R&R! They really make my day and get me motivated to type away! Well, until the next chapter my fair readers!_

_~Zimithrus1_


	2. Chapter 2: Learning the Basics

_Hello everyone! Chapter two of Grandfather Paradox is out! :D So what do you guys think of the story so far?_  
_Well, I hope you like it to say the least! Anywhoo, enjoy chapter two!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _  
_~X[Chapter 2: Learning the Basics]X~_

Waiting for Angeal to get here was pure torture! Sephiroth, the mighty General and SOLDIER first class, was shaken up for once. Yet he kept his composure cool in front of these strange children that were apparently his. He was leaning against the kitchen wall that connected the room to the rest of the house. His arms were folded across his chest as he watched the four children in the living room. The eldest had the other two silverettes sitting around a small glass coffee table in the middle of the room, they had a deck of cards and by how it sounded, the kids were playing Go-fish.

The toddler Cloud was lingering about at a safe distance, more than likely debating with himself if he should go over and join them or not. He still had that blanket tucked safely to his chest, secured in place by his small hands. He toddled up next to the youngest of the three silver haired children, looking at the fun animal printed cards on the table. The youngest looked at him with a harsh glare, then used both of his hands and pushed the blonde away. The small child fell onto his rear with a soft thump as he dropped his precious blanket. A tiny little grunt made his way to his mouth, but hardly escaped passed closed lips.

"You can't play with us, Cloud!" He said, turning back to the game with his brothers. Sephiroth's silver eyebrows furrowed deeply. Confused and shaken up as he was, he was still the same old him. Behaviour like that would not be tolerated. It was not tolerated in the military, nor would it be in his home.

The little blonde haired boy began to whimper softly, azure blue eyes swelling with tears that were yet uncried.

"Get lost." The middle silverette said, his tone telling to all that he was bored and nearly annoyed. Yet he easily masked the annoyance with that bored look and tone of his.

At that comment, the young child's whines grew a little louder, his little pink lips beginning to jut out in his distress.

"Go cry somewhere else, you're interrupting our game." The eldest spoke up, putting a pair of sharks on the pile of cards as the middle one took them into his hand.

At that, the blonde child burst into tears, immediately pulling his hands to cover his mouth as he cried. Little tears dripped out of his eyes and his face flushed into a bright red color. After a few cries were had on the floor, he shakily wobbled to his feet and looked towards the kitchen, where he saw Sephiroth standing there, with firm eyes and a serious expression. Cloud instantly rushed towards him, throwing himself at the man's legs, wrapping his small arms around him as he used the dark grey fabric of the silverette's pyjamas to cry into.

Unsure of how to quiet the blonde down, he allowed him to cry against him. The man cleared his throat loudly, making the smaller children turn in a hurry to look in his direction.

"Explain yourselves." Sephiroth demanded, gesturing to Cloud crying away against him.

The blonde looked over at his siblings for just a moment, before hiding his face in the pants fabric again. His little hands were tightly gripping at said material and his small body was pressed against the man's legs, trying to seek comfort from him. The eldest was just about to open his mouth, until there was firm knocking at the door. Angeal was here!

Upon hearing the knocking, Cloud detached himself from Sephiroth and toddled to the side, out of his way. The General hurried over to the wooden door, and eagerly opened it. He was about to speak until he saw something by Angeal's legs. His milky ice blue eyes widened once again when he saw what appeared to be a child version of none other than Zack Fair! He looked to be about eight years old. Come on, a hyperactive teenager was enough, but a Child? Talk about a handful and Then some.

"Sephiroth? Are you alright?" Angeal asked, his voice was half amused, and half concerned.

The silverette was brought out of his surprised daze when he heard his friend's voice. He looked up to see that the man looked the same, and hadn't appeared to have changed. Thank goodness! Something that was the same!

"My emotions of being 'alright' all depend on how you answer my questions. Come inside." Sephiroth directed, opening up the door a little wider for his friend and the child Zack.

The little ravenette bounded inside, looking around the room with a big smile on his face. The three silverette children looked to nearly cringe, and they continued their game of Go-fish, altogether ignoring his arrival. Cloud had run up to the older looking boy, dropping all evidence of his tears and replaced it all with a big and bright smile.

"Cuzin!" He happily cried, his blue eyes twinkling in delight.

The young ravenette made a happy little giggle, then hugged the smaller child. Sephiroth blinked at Cloud's choice of words. So, if the puppy and the blonde were cousins then...Himself and Angeal were related? He quickly looked back towards his friend, eyes briefly flashing a hint of shock before he masked it over again.

Upon seeing the silverette's reaction to Cloud's words, he released a heavy sigh and carelessly raked one hand through his off black hair. "You're right...We Do need to talk." He said, also shaking his head slightly in the process.

He walked past Sephiroth and sat down on the unoccupied couch, the other following with and joining him on the cool leathered couch. The three silver haired children continued to play Go-fish, until Zack ran up, grabbed all the cards in the discard pile, and threw them up into the air, laughing as he did so. The eldest gave the younger boy a death glare, but it was counteracted when a pink tounge jutted out behind peachy lips, and a lower eyelid was pulled down, obviously making a funny face at him. Cloud copied Zack with loud laughter, ignoring his older brothers glares at him as well.

"So, what do you want to ask first?" Angeal spoke up, breaking through the childish teasing and laughter from only a few feet from them.

"Firstly, who are they?" Sephiroth said, getting right down to business as he pointed at the children about ready to gang up on Zack for interrupting their intense game of Go-fish, all the while the young ravenette was still making jabs at the older boys, with Cloud just staring up at him in adoration. Clearly the blonde was learning from a bad example.

"Okay, you must have suffered from some sort of sleep concussion, but whatever. They are your children. Kadaj is the oldest one at age eleven, Yazoo is the middle one at age ten, and Loz is the youngest of the three at age eight. Finally, Cloud is the youngest at age two." Angeal began.

"How Old am I?" Sephiroth quickly retorted, trying his best to hide his surprise.

"You're thirty-one..." The older ravenette said slowly, his eyebrows beginning to scrunch ever-so-slightly.

The mighty General was barely able to hold back a gasp. How had he aged six years in one day? But most importantly, out of all of his questions-

"Who is their mother?" He nearly cried. His voice barely cracked, but he was someone able to keep most of his cool.

Angeal let out another heavy sigh, as if he was trying to find the right words to say to Sephiroth. His eyes rolled around a little bit in thought, as he pieced together the phrases he had to make as much sense as possible for his older brother that was clearly suffering from some sudden onset of amnesia.

"Well, Jeanine Rivers is the mother of the three silverettes. She was your high school crush. You guys hooked up and had some kids, but she died about two years ago." The ravenette explained, comfortably crossing his arms over his chest as he sunk his back against the couch cushions behind him.

Jeanine, that name was familiar. Ah, that's right. She had come to Shinra to apply for the Turks. A vibrant and headstrong woman with white-blonde hair and piercing milky green eyes. She was a bold woman and didn't let other people's opinions persuade her own. But when she was denied, she stepped down a notch and ended up becoming Genesis' secretary. She didn't last long before she couldn't handle the redhead's temper, and ended up becoming his secretary. Sephiroth was pulled out of his thoughts When he thought over what Angeal said to him first.

"What do you mean by 'mother of the three silverettes'? What about Cloud?" The General asked, using his hand to gesture towards the blonde boy, in which was now roughhousing and wrestling around with Zack, laughing all the while. The silverette children were still gathered around the coffee table, only talking to each other now.

"Ah, him..." The younger man said, a heavy sigh following his words.

The silverette slowly blinked, now that his questions were being answered, he was able to fall back into his usual persona. He started to piece together that this might be an entirely different place. Kind of like a child wondering if their reflection in the mirror was another them or not. But, parallel worlds didn't exsist...Right? When Angeal took a long breath, about to speak, the silverette pulled himself out of his thoughts and listened.

"Well, about three years ago, you went to a bar with me and some of our friends. You met this girl there. You guys started talking for a few hours, had some drinks together. Apparently from what you told me the next morning after that night is you had pulled a one-night stand. You never saw the girl again, until a few months later when she found your number and called you, stating she was pregnant..." Angeal began, pausing to take a quick breath and check over his brother's reaction to see how well he'd take the information that he should have already known. He seemed to be fairing just fine so far. Upon seeing this, he continued.

"Of course you denied it, and told the girl she was crazy. But after a few more months she found you out, then Jeanine ended up finding out about it. But instead of getting mad, she was very understanding, even if her parents hated you for 'betraying her', as they said. The girl had said that she was going to kill the baby before it was born so she wouldn't have to take care of it, but Jeanine talked some sense into her and even offered to take the baby herself.

So after he was born, you two took him back. At first you didn't even like to look at him, because he was the living proof of your horrible mistake. But Jeanine ended up persuading you otherwise. Then you took to the baby instantly. Anyways, that's basically the jist." Angeal finished up.

Sephiroth nodded slowly. So that must be why the other children don't like Cloud, because he's not really their full blooded brother. Or perhaps they blamed him for their mother's death? Who knows. Cloud and Zack had stopped roughhousing, and now the blonde playfully pushed Kadaj, wanting to play with him a little bit too.

"Back off, Blacksheep." He warned.

"Hey Kadaj! Don't be a meanie to Cloud!" Zack cried, pointing his finger at the older silverette, his eyes firm in anger.

"Don't tell me what to do, Puppy!" He snapped back, feline eyes narrowing into large blue ones.

The other two silver haired brothers looked at each other with widened eyes, knowing something was about to go down and that they should probably stay out of it. The little blonde boy looked back and forth between his eldest brother and his older cousin, his big blue eyes displaying worry and fright. He stepped back from them a little bit, falling onto his rear with a soft thump as the silent tensions grew higher between the two.

"If you don't want me tellin' you what to do, then don't be a stupidhead!" Zack countered, growling softly in anger.

"I'm not a stupidhead!" Kadaj shouted, balling his hands into fists.

"Stupidhead! Stupidhead!" The ravenette shot back, just as loud as the silverette's shouting.

Without warning, Kadaj lunged at Zack, tackling him to the ground. The younger boy fought back but thrusting his feet up into the older boy's stomach, and using his fingernails to try and slice at his face. The silverette was able to reach down and bite Zack on the arm, while the ravenette was able to scratch Kadaj's left cheek. Cloud burst out into tears at the fighting, obviously frightened and worried.

"Hey!" The stern voice of Angeal cut through the air.

The two boys kept fighting, biting, and scratching one another, ignoring the man's interjection. Sephiroth stood up from the couch, took a deep breath, and in his best military commander voice, shouted:

"Stop this insolent behaviour immediately or strict punishment will fall on your behalf!" The two boys immediately stopped fighting and looked up at the older man, Zack was pinned under Kadaj, but had a leg wrapped around him, and had pulled one of his arms down and pinned it to the ground with one of his own. Cloud continued to cry from his spot on the tan carpeted floor, even though the room was dead silent otherwise.

Kadaj scampered off of the younger boy, while Zack sat up and shot the older boy a glare, gently rubbing the arm that had been bitten. Sephiroth scoffed in an annoyed manner as he picked up the wailing toddler, pulling him away from the battlefield that had once preciously been a living room. The blonde babe stopped crying, but instead snuggled up closer towards his father.

"Kadaj, for starting this fight, you shall be punished accordingly to how I see fit." He sternly said, he then looked over towards Zack, whom looked angry at Kadaj, yet ashamed at the older man in front of him. "As for you, I shall let your father handle you." He simply stated.

The other two silverette children were staring at each other, their eyes still wide. Good thing they decided to stay out of it! Unlike their eldest brother, they were not brash and always thought before they acted, unlike Kadaj, or Zack for that matter. Angeal chuckled from his spot on the couch. Even if his older brother seemed to have amnesia of some sorts, he was still the same old Sephiroth: Strict, yet caring, in his own little way. The older man turned to face him, Cloud still in his arms.

"So...Does this happen a lot?" He asked. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
_A/N: Whoo! Chapter two is DONE! Hope you guys liked it! :) This chappie was basically written to introduce Sephy's Parallel Life! That's right! He's in a parallel world! OOOhhh! Poor Cloudy though, his brother's don't like him! It will be explained exactly why they don't like him in future chapters X3 Anyways, I hope you guys liked it! Stay tuned for more!_

_~Zimithrus1_


	3. Chapter 3: Trouble on the Homefront

_Yay! Chapter three of Grandfather Paradox is ready for you guys to read! I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! I know I like it! :) It's a new twist for me after all, I've never really written Sephy as a main character before, so I'm doing my best! Anyhow, enough of my rant, enjoy chapter three! :D  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_X[Chapter 3: Trouble On The Homefront]X~_

It had already been two weeks since the explosion in Medeoheim, and General Sephiroth was still in a coma. After the bright white light had assaulted the General, it dissipated after a few seconds, and the silver haired man fell over with a loud thud, and was unconscious. Zack and Cloud had been in charge of getting the man back to Midgar, to the infirmary specifically. Even after two weeks, the silverette still showed no signs of waking.

Upon hearing this news at first, Genesis had blown a gasket it seemed, and was now taking out his anger and worries out on the cadets. Or any cadet he could find within a two mile radius. Thankfully, Cloud had been left out of the redhead's rage. Probably only because he had been there with the General at the time, and Angeal promised to protect the small blonde from the firy redhead, which at the time really wanted to rip Cloud a new one.

Angeal seemed to have taken the news a little better than Genesis, in terms of anger, but was otherwise just as shaken up. On multiple occasions he'd have to be there when Zack was visiting. Gaia knows how many sticks the kid brought in just to poke the General in the cheek to see if he was still alive. Apparently, the ravenette said that the machines could be faulty, and if he was ever in a coma, he'd want someone to poke him with a stick every once in awhile. The young teen had a few loose wires to say the least. Today, Angeal, Genesis, Cloud, and Zack were all in the General's room, checking up on him.

"Zack, I would appreciate it if you would remove the stick from your person." Angeal spoke up, before the young ravenette even took three steps into the room.

"I don't have a stick Ang'!" The young teen exclaimed, showing his mentor his empty hands.

The older ravenette just smirked and looked down at his student's uniform, looking at where the ends of his pants were tucked into his boots, and his grin only grew when he saw the end of a stick barely poking out of the Second Class' right boot.

"Not in your hands. But tucked away in your boot, perhaps?" Angeal mused, his smirk flickering a little wider when he saw the shock appear on the younger ravenette's face.

"How did you know?" Zack cried, quickly removing the stick from his boot, only to make the appearance of his uniform look more sloppy.

"Will you two simmer down? I'm trying to have a conversation over here!" Came the snappy response of Genesis from oer by Sephiroth's bed.

"With a comatose guy?" Zack piped up, looking over at the scene.

'Yes! I'm telling him to get the hell up so I don't have to do any more of his paperwork! Now be quiet before I roast you with firaga!" The redhead snapped gnashing his teeth together as he explained.

Cloud, which was standing by the far off wall, seemed to shrink down a bit at Genesis' temper, and the cadet suddenly found his boots to be the most interesting thing to look at on the face of Gaia.

"C'mon, lower your voice a bit okay? You're scaring the little Chocobo!" Zack said, gesturing over to Cloud, still looking down at his boots and trying to remove himself from any form of communication.

The redhead was just about to protest, until a low groan was heard. The four looked over towards the bed that the currently comatose General was laying in, only to be in for a surprise when the silverette had stirred, and was sleepily grumbling to himself.

"Hey! He's up!" Zack cried, bounding over to the bed energetically.

Cloud looked up from his boots and over to the bed, but he did not move from his spot. He figured it'd be best for him to stay right there for the time being. The silverette blinked his eyes a few times, making sure his icy blue eyes adjusted to the bright lights of morning pouring in through the window. He looked over at the people swarming the left side of his bed. He blinked a few more times, only more slower this time. He slowly eased himself up into a sitting position as he stretched and yawned, then let his eyes trace over the group by his bed. His eyes landed on Angeal first.

"Good morning. What on Gaia are you doing here so early in the morning?" He asked, rubbing his eyes a bit.

"It's not that early Sephiroth, we just all wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing." The older ravenette replied, good to see that his friend was awake.

"Ah, I see. So is Zack here too?" Sephiroth asked, still looking over at Angeal, and nearly ignoring Genesis all together.

The first class blinked once, an absent look on his face. This was certainly new. Sephiroth never called Zack by his first name, always by Fair, or sometimes, the rare 'Lieutenant Fair' title.

"Um, yes, he's here too. Right behind me in fact." Angeal stammered as he shifted to the left a bit so the young teen could be presented.

"Good morning Seph'! I was gonna poke you with a stick to make sure you were still breathing but they wouldn't let me! So can I do it now?" The younger ravenette said, nearly beginning to bounce in place. His voice was already bouncing around enough as is. Sephiroth's eyes widened and his jaw slacked, letting his mouth barely hang open.

"So...Is that a no?" Zack asked, cocking his head to the right a tad.

"a-Angeal! What is wrong with Zack?" The sileverette stammered, his icy eyes never leaving the energetic teenager.

'Hey!" The young ravenette whined, obviously offended by that remark.

"What do you mean Sephiroth? He's still the same as ever." Angeal responded.

"That's not what I mean. How old is he?" The silverette asked, finally breaking eye contact with the Second Class to look at his friend.

"He's seventeen...Are you alright?" The older ravenette asked, concern beginning to increase steadily in his voice.

The General looked taken aback, and his eyes quickly snapped back to Zack, studying the vivacious teenager with near interest it seemed. He stammered over invisible words, for his mouth was moving but no sound was coming out. He looked very startled and very disturbed. What was wrong with him? Did he hit his head while on the mission? That would be a very logical explanation for this situation, but both Zack and Cloud reported that the General did not hit his head, but something unusual did happen. What happened, was the question.

"That can't be...He's only supposed to be eight..." Sephiroth finally said, looking back at Angeal now.

The first class nearly scoffed out of disbelief. His eyes were now wide, and Genesis had just accepted the fact that he was being ignored for the moment, so had kept quiet, even if he had muttered 'Maybe eight mentally, but seventeen physically.' Under his breath.

"This could only mean one thing...I must have fallen into a coma!" Sephiroth deducted, slamming his right fist into his left palm as he looked completely sure of his answer. He nodded his head for emphasis, but this his eyes shot wide open and looked at both Angeal and Zack this time.

"I have missed so many years with you! We must catch up at once!" He cried, flinging himself at the two, hugging them both tightly.

"Angeal...I'm scared..." Zack whimpered, looking over toward his mentor with sad and frightened looking eyes.

The older ravenette was just left speechless at his friend's behavior, unsure of what to say, and unsure of what to do. Sephiroth then released the two from the hug and sat formally on his bed.

"Tell me, Brother. How many years have I been comatose? If you cannot answer, then I suppose I could direct my question towards my nephew?" The silverette inquired, directing his question towards Angeal and Zack.

"b-Brother? What? I, um..uh..." The older ravenette stammered, very confused on what was happening. He quickly looked over to his student.

"Are you SURE he didn't hit his head?" He harshly whispered to him, as if the silverette wouldn't be able to hear him.

"Yes! A bright light consumed him, then it disappeared and he fell unconscious, okay? That's what happened! Let's just...Play along for now?" Zack suggested, harshly whispered back.

Angeal decided to agree with his student, for once. He had to do some thinking, that was for sure. How did Sephiroth get like this? What happened during the mission? What did they find that caused the bright light? But more importantly, he had to do some thinking about how to talk to this weird version of his delusional friend in which thought that he was his brother. If Sephiroth believed that Zack was supposed to be eight, and that he had fallen into a coma, then...

"Yes, you fell into a coma, and have been asleep for nine years. You hit your head which caused the coma." Angeal said, playing along and following his student's idea. It was probably the best idea the young teen had ever come up with in his life.

"I figured as much...So I've been recovering in this hospital throughout my comatose years. Granted, that was a given." Sephiroth muttered to himself.

A loud and quite high pitched sneeze broke the General's muttering, and the thoughts of the others.

"Oh yeah, Cloud's in the room!" Zack recalled, all together forgetting about the blonde.

Then again, everyone else in the room kinda forgot about him after the whole 'Delusional Sephiroth' fiasco. The silverette's head quickly shot over in the direction from which the blonde had sneezed. When icy eyes came into contact with azure blue eyes, Sephiroth immediately sprang up from the bed, and the group around him backed off, giving him some room. There was this strange kind of silence floating through the air the longer the General stared at the cadet.

"Um, good morning?" Cloud greeted unsurely, blushing faintly as he broke eye contact with the silverette. Why was he staring at him like that? It was embarrassing! He hated being center of attention like this.

"Cloud! My child!" Sephiroth cried, rushing at the blonde as he wrapped him up in his arms, nearly squeezing all the air out of the blonde's lungs.

Jaws around the room dropped in shock, and eyes seemed to have bugged out from their sockets at this point. Cloud, of course, was equally as shocked as the others, if not more so. Sephiroth let the cadet go and looked him up and down.

"Look at how you've grown! I'm sorry I wasn't there for you as you grew! Have you hit puberty yet?" The silverette began to ask.

At that, the blonde turned as red as a tomato, grew weak in the knees, and passed out. Angeal wasn't too far behind...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_A/N: Ha, how'd you guys like this chapter? Oh yeah, that's right! The parallel Sephy has switched places with the original! This story kinda reminds me of that Wife Swap show, only it's the alternate universe version! Ahaha! XD Now that this has happened, I don't think the military will recover so quickly, teehee! Anyhow, don't be afraid to tell me what you thought of the chapter! And I shall see you guys in the next chapter!_

_Toodles! 3_

_~Zimithrus1_


End file.
